St. Paul daily globe., 1887-08-21
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That was all. TO every question was
given this same answer, dictated by the
same idea, the only one that seemed to
remain clear to their minds after listen
ing to stump speakers and tavern ora
tors. 1t was useless to reason with them,
to remind them that these same rich
people against whom they were so bit
terly set had raised a large sum of
money last month to relieve the distress
of families that had been bereft by an
explosion of fire-damp in the st. Fran
co.'s mines, and so great had been the
relief granted that the miners were,
even then, fighting among themselves
to marry the widows of those who had
remained underground. Nothing would
do. Sullen or noisy, according to their
different natures, the strikers would
roam about the country in compact
groups, as if to make greater display
of their strength, going everyWhese in
strict obedience to the orders of their
leaders, who, on the first signal of dam
ger, would ignominiously fly for their
lives and abandon to their fate the un-
fortunate creatures that had intruSted
themselves to their leadership.
The news received from all sides was
heartrending; every night there were
more hands refusing to go down the
shafts. At Kelaart and in the Bertrand
valley all the traces had been cut. At
Moramount miners had been all but
murdered, and had been compelled to
flee for having shown willingness to
resume work. HOrdes of men, all black
ened up, overran the fields. Drunken
men and women and begging children
were met at every turn, all with weap-
ons in their hands. In out of the way
Of 41,a or o for
mer occasion were put into practice,
and reign of terror instituted for the
peaceable peasants and quiet burgher.
The troops, called in haste from every
point, were not sufficiently strong in
numbers to Quell the disorders. The
officers were uneasy lest their soldiers,
exaSperated by such continued alarms,
should fire without orders. In the day
while on the march, at night at the mess,
nothing was heard but talk which
seemed to preSage a terrible engage
ment the first time the two forces would
come together.
Over one of the roads which cut
through the clark country" thirty sol
dierS were going at quickstep, under
an icy rain, beating full in their faces
and increasing twOfOld the weight of
their equipments. With asub-lieutenant
Ill Iuty ll0u lC1b IllC Village W
take charge of the RebauX glass works,
which a gang of plunderers had been
threatening since early morn. For
three long hours they had been splash
ing along through the black, sticky
mire of coal dust. Night came on, seem
ing but little darker than the gloomy
day which had preceded it. On all
sides were to be seen nothing but
drenched fields, here and there house
of sinister aspect or wretched hovel,
which. though crumbling to ruin. might,
nevertheless, be the dwelling place of
some human being.
At times the road would rise up an
abrupt slope, and then even these sights
would appear so dimly to the soldiers
that they might have thought they were
marching over an aerial road through
the gray clouds.
All of sudden CLEAN of light had
appeared in the distance. AT first they
thought it signal of some kind; but it
had increased and spread to so great an
extent that they soon saw it was a con-
fiagratiOn.
The sub-lieutenant cried out, "Halt!"
Then calling to one of his soldiers he
asked, ''Where is that fire?"
The soldier looked around him for a
moment to discover where he was, and
then replied: "'TiS the glassworks,
lieutenant"
1.-The RebauX glassworks?"
"YeS, lieutenant"
And then like a Shiver this sentence
spread through the ranks:
1.-THE glasSwOrks are on firer'
Forward" commanded the officer.
The men began their march anew,
deeplV moved by the new disaster
Only one remained motiOnleSS at the
edge of the road. One of his comrades
called out to him:
s'Say. John, aren't you coming?"
81 am,'' answered John, catching up
with the others.
He was almost a child, with hand
some, young head on body that was
still slender. Although not quite twenty,
he had already been two years in the
service, his mild, laughing face was pale
on that day; his open cOuntenance bore
traces of uneaSineSs. He was worried
by the thought that his brother, his only
living relative, was a laborer somewhere
in that neighborhOod, he knew not ex-
actly where. The two brothers, as a
general rule, very seldom correspondent.
Sometimes many months would elapSe
without their receiving news from each
other. They were very much attached
one to the other, and frequently, in the
evening, John would reopen and read
the scarce letters of his brother.
Now, during the last year, John had
received two that had not little dis
turbed him. They treated of things he
did not understand. The workman, in
astring of declamatory phrases which
he had evidently heard in meetings or